


The old baby

by propernaut



Series: The old baby universe [1]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Age Play, Age Regression/De-Aging, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-08
Updated: 2014-05-18
Packaged: 2018-01-11 14:49:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1174360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/propernaut/pseuds/propernaut
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mary and John are Sherlocks Parents. Sherlock is going through a hard time not being a brat with the new baby on the way. Spanking will occur in later chapters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first story..be gentle..give tips..

Sherlock’s brain swelled with boredom. He had been staring at the wall for nearly five minutes and he could barely contain his immense boredom. 

“Are you ready to come off the corner then Sherlock?” John called from the couch. Sherlock let out a somber huff and tilted his head to look at John and Mary snuggled on the couch.

“I was never ready to be here.” Sherlock quipped glaring at the Watson couple as they sat content on the sofa watching junk telly. John gave the consulting detective a stern as he lifted himself from the sofa. John had become accustomed to Sherlock’s bratty behavior but today has been especially bad. The impending baby had left Sherlock in a state of dismay and his attitude had suffered tremendously. 

“Now, that’s not what I asked now is it?” John said as he looked down at the consulting detective sitting upon the short stool. With a huff and a head roll Sherlock, looking relatively defeated whispered “No.” 

This pleased John greatly, it wasn’t usual order that Sherlock would concede to John’s argument, and even more rare that he admitted he was wrong. This is a moment that would be saved in John’s memory for a long time coming. “Alright Sherlock, are you ready to come out of the corner now?”

“Yes.” Said the consulting detective as he stood up from the petite stool ready to join John and Mary on the couch…or at least attend to one of his experiments that had no doubt been ruined by his corner time. John place a hand on each of the slender mans’ shoulders and sat him back down in the stool. 

“Well before you come out, why were you sent to the naughty corner then?”

“…Because I didn’t do what you asked me to do the first time, and then threw a tantrum when you asked me to do it the second time.” Sherlock fiddled with the buttons on his sleeve not registering that he had rolled his eyes during the exchange. 

“Well then I guess you aren’t ready to come out now! And I’ll tell you this—“ 

“John.” Mary called from the couch in a soft maternal voice. John looked back at her letting out a huge sigh ...the brat has gotten his way again. 

“Alright Sherlock, it seems you have a benevolent benefactor. You may come out of the corner if you promise to behave.”

“Promise.” 

“..And say thank your benefactor, without her you’d surely be in that seat for another hour. “

Sherlock leaped from the stool and ran over to Mary and hugged her legs. Snuggling as hard as he could he said “Thank you for saving me from the corner mummy.”  
Mary pet his head ruffling his brunette curls as she smiled at him. The scene was heartwarming, but John himself was a little put off. Now he was the mean parent and Mary was the nice one. John was sptting. 

“Sherlock, its time for bed now.” John said calmly looking at the scene.

“But its not even ten—“ 

“If I were you, I’d stop talking now and get on to your room then.” 

Sherlock scanned the faces of John and Mary and he knew that there would be a row. 

“John—“

“Mary.” John said giving her a knowing look. Sherlock was sure of it now…there would be a row.


	2. Resolutions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John and Mary argue over how to raise Sherlock and how John handles the punishment. Tons of FEELS

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the second chapter of many..spanking will occur in later chapters

John walked Sherlock back to his room and firmly closed the door as Sherlock entered. “Now, I’ll be in to check on you as soon as mummy and I finish our talk.”

Sherlock listened intensely at the door awaiting the yelling and screaming that usually came with a row between his adoptive parents. He knew that any fight they got into would be about him and if that was the case he needed to know what the argument would be.

 

In the living room the air was somber with unspoken aggravations. 

“Mary, we cannot be on opposite sides when it comes to the kids ya? I mean if I put him in the corner and say he has to apologize then you should back me up! We are supposed to be a team. Is this how its going to be when the other baby comes?”

 

Mary looked at John with wounded eyes, she never thought of it s her being on the opposite side.

“You’re too hard on him John.  He’s scared, a new baby coming in, things will change, and _WE_ will change.”

“Boys need discipline Mary, it’s the only way he will learn.

“You aren’t in the army any more Dr. Watson.”

“Say’s the ex-assassin?!?!” John bellowed. He was never one for criticism, and now he felt like Mary was digging deep in that trench.

“Pretend I didn’t yell that…”

“I’m trying. Well John, we went into this knowing that he needed us to be his parents. We knew that sometimes he would be a petulant child. We even knew that he would be rude and yet you pretend like this is some sort of shock to you. Have you asked him how he feels about the baby coming? Hmm? Have you spent any time with him besides barking orders? When’s the last time you went on a case with him? When is the last time you let him go on a case because he wasn’t being punished? You want him to act better John Hamish? You treat him better.”

 

That read down left John sore. He never thought about it that way. After the Watsons moved back in 221b from those horrid suburbs they got into a little routine. Mary would get Sherlock to clean up after himself, she got him to eat and sleep at a regular schedule. When he refused to do those things she would make him sit on the step until he thought about what he’d done. When he would come and apologize and Mary would plant a kiss on his forehead, John saw something in him that he never saw before, a child who needed guidance. Talks were had and tears were shed and before he knew it, he was daddy, Mary was mummy and Sherlock was their precocious pre-teen child with another baby on the way. They were a family. The problems came when Mary started showing more and more and Sherlock’s attitude became worse and worse.  Although John didn’t recognize it at the time his punishments for Sherlock became more frequent causing static amongst everyone in the house.

 

“You’re right darling,” John whispered to his beloved wife. She always had a way of making him think things through. “I will talk to him right away.”

John kissed his wife and walked through the kitchen towards Sherlock’s bedroom.

 

Sherlock was listening intently at the door but only heard muffles and a brief shout.  It seemed to be taking ages for them to get through the conversation and no doubt they kept their voices low as not to have him hear.  The muffles had stopped eventually and were followed by John’s footsteps coming through the kitchen. He knew that if John found him out of bed he would be in trouble _again._ Sherlock couldn’t stand that he was always in trouble with his parents as of late. He also couldn’t stand that the only time he spent with John were with him getting punished.  As he let out a sigh he went to sit on the bed, awaiting yet another punishment.

_Knock knock_

“Sherlock? Can I come in?” John called through the door.

“Yes.” Sherlock said from the edge of the bed.

John entered the consulting detectives bedroom and stared down at the defeated person sitting on the edge of the bed. John never looked at Sherlock’s face lately and if he had he would have seen that he was hurting. It nearly broke John’s heart in two.

 

“Sherlock I –“

“I know. I am not in bed when you told me to, I’m grounded or whatever.” Sherlock huffed and threw himself on his mattress.

“First off, tone check young man. Secondly that’s not what I was going to say.”

“You weren’t?’ Sherlock asked looking just as confused as he sounded. John wondered if he had really been that terrible to the consulting detective.

“I wasn’t. I was going to say; I know I have been hard on you lately and for that I am sorry. I know you are just nervous about the baby coming but I am here to tell you: mummy and daddy still love you very much. We aren’t going to forget about you and we aren’t going to leave you. We are in this together. And also, if you don’t follow my instructions again, you will be grounded with no experiments. “ A small smirk came across Johns face as he said the last sentence. Sherlock however was silent. In the dark of the room John could see the glimmer of the teary streaks falling from his face. John moved in closer to Sherlock and pulled him in for a hug.

“That’s a good lad, let it out…its ok.”

The silent tears soon turned into light huffs and crying and the two sat on the bed in the dark.

“Now, I am sure you are hungry… lets go on to the kitchen and make you a bite and then you can go for a bath and off to bed with you. We have a big day tomorrow.”

“What’s tomorrow?” A tearful Sherlock asked.

“Why a case of course, just dad and the lad. No girls.” John chuckled and kissed the boys forehead. 


	3. Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sherlock has some internal suffering.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is just a set up for later chapters.

Sherlock awoke with a smile on his face. "Dad and I are finally going on a case." he crooned while rolling in under the duvet. He felt absolutely giddy, if high-functioning sociopaths could feel giddy. Sherlock and John had not been on a case in ages, and that was reasonable. Sherlock had been acting like a proper git as of late. 

How could he help but behave like a git? His parents were expecting a new baby, and they had just become his proper parents recently. They has all agreed that he would be their son and they would take care of each other, but soon Mary began to show and reality set in.   
How could he be their son when they have a real child on the way? A real child, with the same genetics and all. It was elementary science after all and human survival. Propagate the species and whatnot... that’s the human way. When babies are born they have those delicate features that make them attractive to take care of. They have those big eyes that make you want to hold them. Sherlock had none of that, only a mop of black curls and the ability to make clever remarks.  
"Not a proper son at all" Sherlock murmured into the duvet. Just as he was about roll back over in the bed, Sherlock heard a faint call from the kitchen.

"Sherlock! Breakfast" Mary called. Sherlock was in no mood for breakfast this morning. He was feeling down on himself, and knew seeing Mary’s massive belly with all it meant for the future only made things worse. But Sherlock knew that if he caused a scene this morning if a case were to come up...John would tell Lestrade that they were “busy”. 

Sherlock padded out of his bedroom and went to the kitchen. He plopped himself down on the bench and sat at the massive island across from Mary and John.   
Mary and John shared a knowing glance. Sherlock was in an obvious in a mood. 

“Sherl, I heard that you and your dad are going to fetch a case today. Are you excited?” Mary gave Sherlock a maternal look and it warmed him up a bit.   
“Yes.” He said in a coy manner fiddling with his fork.  
“Will it be the wax man?”  
“Boring...it was the wife posing his wax laden body at the scene and pretending the wax man did it.”  
“…Obviously. Well what about the wayward hitchhiker?”  
“He just had wedding day jitters. He left the hitchhiking trail pretending to be suffering from a dissociative fugue. After which he flew to the Himalayas and stayed there for the wedding before allowing himself walking in to town.”   
“Well, I am sure Lestrade will have a case for you two either way.” Mary smirked as she served Sherlock some sausage and eggs. “Now you eat it all you, or I’ll cry hell.” 

The back and forth did help to ease his morning discomfort but it didn’t stop Sherlock from being upset. ‘This is all going to change,” he thought “No matter what John says.” 

Sherlock ate the minimum amount of food that Mary would allow so he could leave the table. He wasn’t hungry but he also did not want to jeopardize any chance of pulling a case today. As soon as he presented his plate to Mary she gave him a nod and he was free to escape to the living room.

“Well Sherl,” John finally piped from the Kitchen Island. “Daddy’s going to work for a bit… just 3 hours and then we can work on a case.” 

Sherlock looked into the kitchen from his chair. “I thought this was to be a lads day.”

“And it will be… just as soon as I get in from work.”   
Sherlock let out a deep sigh. “Fine… I guess I know what the priority is and it isn’t lad’s day.”  
“Now listen here young man, I said that we would have a lads day and we will. First I have to go to work, and then we will go out on a case.” John threw Sherlock his mobile. He had confiscated a week ago after a very bad mouth off. “Now you take this, if you get a text from Lestrade let me know.”  
“Fine.”  
“Fix your attitude young man. Right now.” John warned. John knew that this was devolving fairly quickly. “Now, I am going to work. Mind your mum and stay in the flat.”

Sherlock kept silent, only nodding his head at Johns’ instruction. 

John gave Mary a kiss and walked into the living room grabbing his coat. He stopped over by Sherlock’s’ chair giving him a mild peck on the forehead. In true adolescent form he wiped the remnants of the kiss off right away.

“Now remember what I said, stay in the flat and mind your mum… not necessarily in that order.” John said pointedly. With that he descended down the steps off to work.


	4. Stroppy Sherlock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sherlock makes a huge mistake!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please critique! I need it!!!  
> This was so hard to write and I wish I was better at it. 
> 
> Having a hard time leading into the spanking so hopefully it will happen in the next chapter.

Sherlock knew he was bored out of his mind and that John would not be home for at least three hours.  
‘How could he leave me like this?’ Sherlock thought as he spread across his chair. His laptop was on his lap and he checked the messages on his site for any inkling of a case. Three caught his eye, but he solved them within a minute of glancing at them.

‘Anything Interesting?  
JW’

A text came across his mobile from John. ‘Well at least he was interested in having a case.’ Sherlock thought as he read the text from his dad. 

Mary must have noticed Sherlock moping in his chair looking over cases that he could solve in a minute and looking more bored than ever.

“Sherlock,” She called from the kitchen “Would you like to watch some junk telly with me? That’ll be fun? Yeah?”

Sherlock heard her but pretended that he didn’t. He just wanted to have a case.

“Sherlock…did you hear me.” Mary asked. She was trying to be as understanding as possible, but if he intended to be one of those brooding ones she was not going to have it. Sherlock still refused to respond from the chair. He turned his gaze upwards and looked at the ceiling pretended to focus on some invisible case that was in his mind. 

“Sherlock…I am going to ask you one more time… Do you want to watch junk telly with your mum..or do you want to go into your room until your dad comes home.”

Sherlock did not want to answer her, but he also did not want to jeopardize the chance to go out on a case. He ran his fingers across the stitching of the chair arm not once meeting the gaze of his surrogate mother. 

“Yes…please” Sherlock mumbled in a tone that barely registered for humans. 

Mary let out a huge sigh. She couldn’t believe that here she was being nice and understanding and he was being such a brat. Mary settled in to the chair opposite of Sherlock and turned on the telly. The drowning noise of the telly caused her to fade in and out of consciousness, until finally she was asleep. 

Sherlock gazed over to the pregnant woman as she slumbered.  
“As if this day couldn’t get any more boring…here she is falling asleep.” He mumbled to himself.

A slight chime came from the mobile on his lap .

Any chance of getting to Scotland Yard today?  
GL

DEPENDS  
SH

Triple homicide one Vic a woman who has been  
dead for 5 years  
GL

This was promising, Sherlock thought as he cradled the phone between his two palms. Finally a case worth his time! Sherlock made quick work of his mobile and dialed John. Surely his Dad would understand the importance of this case and hurry home. 

The rings seemed to last forever, no answer. He tried again, still no answer. 

“Of course, the most interesting case for months and he doesn’t answer.”

Sherlock looked around the flat, which was currently his prison. He detested it so much. He looked across at the woman he has come to know as his mum and the belly that she was swollen with. He had come to hate that belly as well. At that very moment he had decided. He was going to go to the crime scene and if John had a problem with it he could just piss off.

XxXXX

He had to tread lightly. One sound off would wake Mary and alert her to his plan. That was a risk he had to take. He padded lightly around the flat, grabbing up his shoes in his hand and walking barefoot down the stairs. 

He carefully avoided the creaking 3rd step right about 221C as he made his descent. As he stepped out onto the street, barefoot and all he hailed a taxi. 

The cabbie that pulled up gave the barefoot detective a once over and let him in.

“Scotland Yard please Cabbie.” Sherlock ordered, very sure of himself.

“No shoes? Off to the Yard? Must be some woman you are getting away from.” The cabbie chuckled 

“Oh you have no idea.”

XXXX

John walked up to the entrance of the flat barely registering that a taxi had just pulled off carrying his boy. John was very proud that Sherlock had done what he asked and had taken an extra day so they would be able to spend time on whatever case they caught. He climbed the stairs to the flat humming to himself. 

As John entered the common room, he was tickled to see his sleeping wife curled up sleeping. The junk telly was slightly buzzing in the background of his wife’s gentle snores. These are the moments John lived for, coming home to his family and being the man that everyone needed him to be. John knew that Sherlock would have been bored with his mum sleeping in the chair..he would have retreated to his bedroom and occupied himself with genius trifles. John was stuck in the tubes for the last hour and had missed Sherlock’s two calls, for which he felt terribly guilty. He gently walked through the kitchen to Sherlock’s bedroom. Gently rapping on the door, signaling to his boy that it was time for guys day out. 

No answer… could he have fallen asleep? Not likely, the insomniac never slept if he didn’t have to. John pushed the door open to reveal nothing. The room was empty and John was livid. All the guilt he had fell away immediately.

XXXX

WHERE ARE YOU?  
JW


	5. Father knows best

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sherlock faces the music and its not the violin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any betas out there? I need you!

Sherlock felt the buzzing of his mobile in his jacket pocket. He didn’t want to look at it because he knew who it was. He knew that John would arrive at the flat to find him missing and would be seriously put off by it.

Upon arriving at Scotland Yard his breath drew quickly. The air was sharp. Sherlock knew it wasn’t the case that was causing the anxiety… it was the trouble he would be in when John finally caught up to him. The slender man walked into the building and passed the blur of faces as he rushed into Lestrade’s office. 

“Oi Sherlock! Long time no see. Have you been on holiday or something?”

‘If you only knew...’ Sherlock thought to himself before saying “Of sorts. What have you found?”

“We haven’t found much-“

“Shocking.” 

“We did get this off the CCTV. A man appears out of nowhere on the screen for 3 seconds and disappears.”

Sherlock scanned the image on the screen. The street was placid and calm with cars buzzing through periodically and then a blip of a man on the screen. 3 seconds later the bodies appear as if out of thin air. It was obvious to Sherlock and possibly to a teenage girl as well. A loop, a lazy loop fed to the CCTV to cover the actual crime. Sherlock would have to see the scene and the victim to make more sense of what happened.

The buzzing of his mobile surprised him. Without thinking he pulled it out of his pocket and read the text that he was hoping to ignore for a little while longer.

YOU HAVE 2 MINS TO ANSWER  
OR IT WILL BE MUCH WORSE  
JW

Sherlock let out a deep sigh.

“Gavin, where is the crime scene?”

“It’s Greg and its at Broadley Terrace and Harewood Ave.”

“I will meet you there.”

Sherlock exited the DI’s office swiftly and made his way to the street to hail a taxi. Sherlock’s body began to tense up. He knew that he would be in trouble either way, but his trouble would be tenfold if he didn’t let John know where he was. The internal struggle was difficult. He did not want to risk John’s anger more than he had to, but he also did not want to lose a chance of finishing the most interesting case in months, nay, years.

In a Taxi to Broadley Terrace and Harewood  
drive.  
SH

Will meet you there.  
JW

 

Sherlock’s heart sank. Would this mean that he and John would have a row in front of the entire staff of Scotland Yard? Or would he just drag him away from the scene embarrassing him in front of Lestarde. 

Sherlock sat in silence during the cab ride as he contemplated all the ways that this could go wrong. As they pulled up to the cross street, Sherlock was surprised to see John already waiting there for him, arms crossed and cocked eyebrow. The flat was only a few streets over, so he supposed it wasn’t that surprising. As Sherlock exited the cab, he felt like a prisoner on his way to death row.

John hastily grabbed Sherlock under his arm as he finally made his way to the street.

“Sherlock, I cannot believe that you would deliberately disobey me.” John hissed under his breath “You were entirely out of line. So you and I are going to have a chat.”

John could feel the consulting detective shake at his words. His steely gaze met that of his surrogate son, but instead of seeing a petulant teenager all he saw was a scared little boy. His army heart melted a little at that look and he almost resolved that he would not spank Sherlock but remembered that without discipline Sherlock would run wild.

“Now you are going to go and look at the scene. You have 10 minutes to get all the clues you need and then you get back here. Do you understand me?”

“Yes” Sherlock said in a small voice

“Yes, what?”

“Yes daddy.” 

“Good boy…for once” John snapped.

Sherlock went to the scene and took in as much as he could. Noticing that the bodies had been dead for a while and likely dumped there after a long time of being hidden. His mind however had been also doing a countdown so he could not fully focus on the scene. He felt sick to his stomach. 

With 3 minutes to spare he returned to John looking like a sick dog. 

“Don’t you go and get sick now… you should have gotten sick when you decided to break the rules. Come on then.”

They made their way through the busy London streets and arrived back at the flat. Mary was in the sitting room reading the paper. Her bulging belly protruding out from under it. As the two men made their way to where she sat, Mary shot Sherlock the angriest look he had ever seen. It was clear that he was to get no sympathy from her. Mary pursed her lips and made room on the sofa for both of them.

‘Obviously planned.’ Thought Sherlock, though he knew it didn’t matter at this point. They carefully sat Sherlock down in between the two of them and began in.

“You deliberately disobeyed me Sherlock. I told you two things what were they?”

“Mind mum..” Sherlock mumbled into his chest. He refused to make eye contact with either of them. Yes, he broke the rules… but John was supposed to stay with him and work on a case. Not go to work for most of the day.

“And?...”

“Stay in the flat.”

“And you broke both of those rules. Brilliant.”

John was about to lose his temper but calmed himself slowly.

“Sherlock, you have earned yourself a smacked bottom, an hour in time out and you are grounded for a week. Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

Tears swelled in Sherlock’s eyes. He could not believe the unfairness of it all. Things were going to be changing soon and there they were blaming him. He didn’t make Mary get pregnant. Things were so much better when they were a family and people weren’t fussing over how excited they were for the babies arrival. 

“You are always blaming me for everything! You are about to have a REAL baby. Everything is going to change and you couldn’t pretend for one day that they weren’t. You just had to go to work!” Sherlock cried out before stifling his light sobs.

Mary and John shared a concerned glance before Mary finally piped up.

“Sherlock, you are our son just as much as this baby is going to be our daughter. Things will change, but not the way you think. It will be us keeping you safe and happy and healthy and keeping her happy and healthy. I adopted you too, so don’t think you will be rid of us that easy.”

Sherlock looked up and met Mary’s eyes for the first time since he arrived home. Her pupils were dilated so he knew she was telling the truth.

“We love you Sherlock… and that is why we have rules. Not to hurt you or be mean to you, but to protect you and to keep you safe.” John said as he rubbed his son’s back. “Now you are going to get a spanking and an hour on the naughty step,” John continued “You will also be grounded for a week… after we finish this case.”

Sherlock looked over to John...He was at a loss for words and for the first time that day truly sorry for his actions. 

“Dad, I’m sorry I didn’t follow the rules and disappointed you.” Sherlock whimpered

“I am sorry that we made you sad. You know you can always just talk to us, right?”

John drew Sherlock in for an embrace “Right?” He asked once more before releasing the boy.

Sherlock nodded solemnly. He knew that John wanted to make up with him but he also knew what John needed to do next. He needed to be punished and John needed to be firm with him. 

John took Sherlock by the hand and guided him over his lap. 

The smacks were swift and sharp. They seemed unrelenting as tears began to fill Sherlock’s eyes. 

A brief pause caused Sherlock to take a huge gulp of air. John eased Sherlock’s trousers down to his knees, exposing his pale white bottom to the air. His bum was already red but John was not finished. 

Twelve more harsh smacks assaulted his bottom until John finally stopped and pulled Sherlock up towards him. Embraced in a hug with his pants down to his knees Sherlock fell apart in his daddy’s arms. He was exposed but he didn’t care. He was far to sensitive and sad to think of anything other than the disappointment he caused his parents throughout the day.

“There, there lad.” John consoled the now very little detective as he held him close in his strong embrace. 

After a couple of hearty sobs and a little tender embrace from his daddy, Sherlock was spirited away by his mummy. She took him into the bathroom where his face was thoroughly cleaned with his monogrammed flannel and he was bathed in soft lavender water. Mary helped Sherlock into his pyjamas and led him back into the sitting room.

John then tenderly took Sherlock by the hand and led him to the bottom step of the landing. They dubbed it the naughty step. It was the perfect prison for someone who constantly craved a distraction. 

“One hour, then some dinner and then straight to bed with you.” John instructed. 

Sherlock nodded as his sore bottom sat on the hard step. 

XXXX


	6. The confused detective

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter...whew! I know it is not very good. If you like Mary and John as Sherlock's mummy and daddy please check out Hide and Seek by Cyphernaut.
> 
> -Be beautiful  
> -Keep writing   
> -and Smile.

Sherlock waited on the naughty step for what seemed like an eternity. A minute felt like a week, so of course an hour felt like a month. The world seemed so bland and hateful from the naughty step. The landing wasn’t well lit, and, it offered no views of the downstairs or the flat. John said that’s what makes it the perfect naughty step. 

Sherlock began to retreat to his mind palace when he noticed his daddy pop onto the landing. John seemed to not even notice Sherlock as he went down the stairs. ‘What is he doing?’ Sherlock thought, clutching the railing as he tried to leverage himself to get a better look. He was careful not to remove his bum from the step, that being the cardinal rule of the naughty step. All his moving provided no insight into what John was doing. 

John finally ascended the steps with two bags of takeaway in his hands. As he reached the landing he made a full stop and looked at Sherlock with the most loving eyes. 

“Come along lad, its dinner time.” John said showing off the bags of takeaway. It was very strange to Sherlock. After all he had been naughty, and naughty boys do not get takeaway. 

“Why did we order takeaway?” Sherlock asked his daddy, looking up in utter confusion. He wanted to deduce the man and figure out what he is playing at, but all he got was an outstretched hand leading him to the kitchen. 

Mary and John laid the table and watched as Sherlock pull out all of his favorite foods. Dumplings, fried not steamed. Beef lo mein, and garlic sauce to cover it in. If Sherlock wasn’t confused before he was definitely confused now. Even when he was on the best of behavior they didn’t order all of his favorites. Was this some type of trick? Was this a last meal of sorts? Sherlock’s mind was racing and he was far too little to deduce what was happening. As he pulled out the egg rolls tears began to swell. 

“What’s wrong baby?” Mary asked rushing to Sherlock’s side. She caressed the tiny detectives curls as she cooed to him. “Tell mama what’s the matter.”

Sherlock was full of sniffles as he held Mary tight. “Why are you being so nice? I don’t understand. I was so naughty.”

Mary and John shared knowing glances, and Mary held Sherlock tighter. John walked over to the pair and knelt, meeting Sherlock’s low casting gaze. How pitiful the tiny detective looked. His eyes were red and his face was ruddy. 

“Oh my poor boy.” John cooed as he cupped Sherlock’s chin. “Mummy and Daddy only wanted to give you a special dinner. We thought we could listen to the case and give our special boy time with just us.”

Sherlock stared at John. He couldn’t believe that his daddy was giving him a reward of sorts after disobeying him. 

“You are our clever lad, and yes you were naughty, but so were we in a way.”

“You were naughty?” Sherlock questioned looking between his mummy and daddy. 

“Yes, we were. Sometimes mummy and daddy forget how hard a new baby can be for our little detective. We were fussing over the new baby and didn’t realize that you were crying out for attention. So before the baby gets here, we are going to try to give you special times with mummy and daddy. When she does arrive, it will be difficult, but we will still try to give you special time just the three of us.”

Sherlock blushed at John’s words. He did understand what Sherlock was feeling. It made the tiny detective feel very warm. He fell into his daddy’s arms for a warm embrace.

“Now then, lets go on and eat this glorious meal and hear all about this case.” John said into Sherlock’s ebony locks.

“Up you get!” Mary chimed plating the foods for her fine fellows.

Sherlock sat between his mummy and daddy practically beaming. He stuffed the foods in his mouth as he recounted the clues and the case to his parents. He only had to be reminded twice to not talk with his mouth full. Once their bellies were full and the tiny detective had finished talking, Mary began to clear the table.

“One question.” Sherlock said very matter of factly. 

“Yes?” John responded with a semi-cocked eyebrow.

“Am I still to be grounded after the case?”

“YES!” Mary and John sang in unison. 

“It was worth a shot.”

John and Mary chuckled slightly as they gathered around their boy giving him tiny cuddles before shooing him off to bed.


End file.
